Hi Steve, I will be adding the SR PowerCell 10SE to my system in a couple of weeks with the Precision Reference PC and Galileo MPC. I am an irrepressible tweaker. So, in the meantime, I have been busy tweaking -- the result of which is that the Gabriel Golds and Merlins have taken a giant step up in my system. I find it amazing that adding a special tweak can change everything in an instant. This happened when I added Ric Schultz's EVS Ground Enhancers to my system a few days ago. Suddenly Gabriel Golds and Merlins delivered a much higher level of performance -- detail, dynamics and a much fuller sound on the sound stage. The Enhancers came highly recommended but I was not prepared for what happened when I installed them in my system. The inveterate tweaker in me now has me tweaking the Enhancers. I have a box full of small items that I have ejected from other systems over the years. I have the straight version of the Enhancers sticking up through the negative speaker binding posts on the Merlins and my Marantz PM-15 integrated amp. Here's how I tweaked the Enhancers. I popped one Cardas speaker pin (gold-plated) onto each of the Enhancers on the PM-15. An immediate improvement. I was inspired to tweak the Enhancers on my Merlins. So, I experimented with various combinations of terminations. After a lot of trial and error here's what I found works best on my Merlins: a Furutech rhodium spade adapter popped onto each of the Enhancers and then two of the Cardas speaker pins (gold-plated, joined together with their set screws) popped onto one of the Cardas spade forks -- not on both -- on each Merlin Enhancer. Crazy? You bet it's crazy. But it works -- please don't ask me why. I have no idea why. I have spent days A/Bing every permutation you can imagine using these little items. With the above-described combination in my system -- YMMV -- there is the greatest improvement in detail, dynamics, sound stage and ambiance that I was able to obtain after all the experimentation. Of course, I use my "reference" CDs for testing each tweak change -- listening to each CD over and over again -- tweaking -- listening -- tweaking -- listening. The venue is now much more "there" on live recordings -- Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Johnny Rivers, Chris Montez, Beach Boys -- you name it. Both live and studio recordings are greatly improved but it helps when the CD is really good quality -- good original recordings or good remasters. But even recordings that sounded "flat" can improve, surprisingly. I had a cheap Duane Eddy CD that sounded like a cheap Duane Eddy CD in my old system. I played it with my new EMM CDP and added the EVS Ground Enhancers. Boy does Duane Eddy ever sound good now. I thought I'd share this with you and those who may be interested in improving the sound in their system. In this case it cost a song -- pun intended -- to get a lot more than song's worth -- A LOT MORE. In other words the improvement was not subtle. The Gabriel Golds and Merlins just keep getting better and better. It's all about synergy. You have a feeling there's a lot more in them thar cables and speakers just waiting to be released then -- wham -- the "more" is suddenly there. I can't wait to add the SR PowerCell 10SE + Precision Reference + Galileo MPC to my system. And a few more tweaks too, of course. I have a feeling it's gonna be "ROCK AND ROLL HEAVEN"!! I saw the Righteous Brothers "Live in Concert" in 1976. Beauuuuutiful!!
